The Cincinnati Bengals came within one win of a Super Bowl appearance last season despite a glaring weakness on the team. The offensive line, including center Ted Karras, gave up the 13th most sacks in the NFL.

All-Pro quarterback Joe Burrow put up big numbers in 2022 and has the athleticism to avoid the rush. He showed it off while crushing batting practice bombs with the Reds recently. He could soar even higher with improved line play.

As Karras tells it, the Bengals' o-line has plenty of room to grow this season. He said the unit is gelling well in OTAs, which could be terrible news for the rest of the AFC North.

“We're so far ahead of where we were last year, especially from an O-Line perspective,” Karras said to Bengals reporter James Rapien.

“We've only added one more (guy), we added four last year, and just procedurally everyone knowing their assignments.

“I mean, Orlando (Brown Jr.) has been easy, you know, easy install for a football coach. He's got a great football mind. I was watching the film last night. I just thought, man, we look really serious. We look really organized. And you know, I really liked the week of practice that we have.”

Brown, Jr. is a multiple-time Pro Bowl tackle whose signing had Burrow fired up this offseason. Karras is the great nephew of NFL Hall-of-Famer Alex Karras. The Bengals center was drafted in the sixth round out of Illinois in 2021 and was ranked as the ninth-best player at his position by Pro Football Focus heading into the 2023 season.

If Karras, Brown, Jr. and the rest of the offensive line can keep Burrow upright, it could be a long season for the opposition in the AFC North and beyond.